By Mark Stansfield, SolderStarThe Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing are enabled by obtaining large amounts of machine data — a revolutionary process which is expected to change the face of the electronics industry in the coming years. Recent technology has made gathering data very ...

By Jeff ElliottSilicon dioxide, or silica, is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. Most commonly found in nature as quartz, it is the major constituent of sand and a primary component in silicone and glass. Now, this basic compound is being used in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition ...

By Florian Degenhart, Wacker Chemie AGMunich, Germany — With 2015 sales of $5.8 billion and R&D expenditures of around $191 million, Wacker Chemie AG styles itself as one of the most research-intensive companies in the chemical industry. According to the company's reports, it generated about 37 percent of its sales from ...

Albert C. Yanez, President, Asteelflash USANo longer an Orwellian tale of science fiction, automated driving is quickly becoming a reality. Regulators, manufacturers, safety specialists, and others in the industry are recognizing the more prominent role that technology will play in the global automotive supplier market. Multi ...

By Philip Stoten (@philipstoten)On the day the iPhone 7 was launched I found myself flying from Los Angeles to San Jose for meetings and an innovation event at Plug and Play, Silicon Valley's largest startup incubator. I found myself wondering how many of these new technologies actually improve the world we live ...

St. Petersburg, FL — Jabil Circuit, Inc., is enhancing the value of its end-to-end manufacturing solutions through the introduction of new innovation acceleration services that compress the entire product lifecycle — from gathering user insights and needs to shortening the path to commercialization. These ...

By Frank J. Ardezzone, FJA Industries, Inc.In the past, wafers were handled with tweezers or vacuum wands. Today, wafers are typically handled by end-effectors which grip the bottom of a wafer using vacuum. An end-effector can be described simply as the robot's hand. The general practice is to use a vacuum clamp to hold the ...

By Michael L. MartelFor an EMS company, choosing a production equipment supplier comes down to performance and flexibility, equipment reliability, speed of changeovers, and other related factors. But choosing the supplier heavily involves that supplier's reputation for service and support, and the company ...

By Tracey BellPrivately held and veteran owned, EMS provider EPE Corporation has been in operation since 1965. For more than five decades and through three generations, the company's engineering expertise and dedication to quality and integrity have been its foundation. Based in Manchester, New Hampshire ...

By Karl Berger, Vice President Americas, Zollner ElectronicsGerman Engineering in Silicon Valley may sound like a misnomer, but it is alive and thriving in Zollner's EMS facility there. Zollner, a large EMS company, is supporting some of the Valley's brightest innovations from conception to volume manufacturing and fulfillment.

By Philip Stoten (@philipstoten)I recently took part in a survey on European electronics manufacturing and the first question I was asked was my impression of the likely impact of Brexit, the referendum decision by the U.K. to leave the European Union. This, along with my observations of the U.S. presidential race ...

By Birgit Bauer, Scott Jordan, and Stefan Vorndran, Physik Instrumente L.P.In motion control systems with movement requirements of mere microns, piezoelectric motion control technology is unparalleled in its precision. The piezoelectric effect is found in materials such as quartz, and converts electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa. First ...

By Jeff ElliottFor decades the spring-loaded probe, or pogo-style pin has delivered excellent mechanical and electrical performance in a highly-compliant contact. However, this often came at a high cost given that each pin is constructed of 3-4 discrete parts manufactured and assembled in a laborious ...

By Jeren Holman, Design Technologist, Samsung C&T AutomationSituated in historic West Jefferson, North Carolina, Global Manufacturing Services (GMS) looks to the future when selecting new equipment for LED production. Small, but versatile, the company is going on its 30th year in business. Founded in 1987 by Arlie Keith and his daughter Andria ...

By Philip Stoten (@philipstoten)Recent figures from the International Federation of Robotics show that the number of multipurpose robots deployed in China in 2014 was well below the world average, and a fraction of the numbers deployed in manufacturing in South Korea, Japan or Germany, who occupied the top three ...

By Jeff ElliottExposure to water, dust, oil, chemicals, movement, and extreme temperature changes can damage circuitry. This problem is exacerbated for the multi-component printed circuit boards (PCBs) found in outdoor devices that must withstand a wide range of weather conditions for decades with ...

By Dr. Hans Bell and Paul Wild, Rehm Thermal Systems GmbHHorizontal dryers, vertical dryers, infrared dryers, ultraviolet dryers, and nitrogen dryers are just a few of the types of thermal systems used in the electronics industry. Such diversity makes it difficult to create a categorical system which represents the many variants. The generic ...

By Peter van den Eijnden, Managing Director, JTAG TechnologiesMany digital electronics designs now contain some form of JTAG/boundary-scan to aid structural board testing or in-system device programming. However, accessing the JTAG feature in a reliable and repeatable manner has always been somewhat neglected by boundary-scan technology and programmable ...

By Stephen Maund, President and CEO, Demco AutomationThe world of custom automation used in electronics and other industries is a game of which direction to proceed — user-operated benchtop stations, or full turnkey systems. By creating a scalable automation strategy from the beginning, equipment reuse, risk reduction, and incremental ...